A 23-year-old rural Tonganoxie man who suffered a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound in early May has been released from an area hospital.
An official at Kansas University Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., said Derek J. Erwin was released last week.
Erwin had been hospitalized since the accident, on May 4.
Erwin apparently had drunk several beers with his girlfriend at his home about 3 1/2 miles east of Tonganoxie. As she took a shower, he went outside, reports said. Two other residents of the home heard three gunshots, but they weren’t alarmed, reports said, because the man often fired his .45-caliber handgun in the backyard at night.
Erwin went into the house, suffering from a gunshot wound below his chin that exited at the top of his forehead, reports said. Officers said he told the responding deputy that he had accidentally shot himself.
Comments
RoeDapple 2 years, 6 months ago
Be interesting to know . . did he miss on the first two shots . . . or the last two . .
dogsandcats 2 years, 6 months ago
What I want to know is, why was he often firing his gun in his backyard at night?
Stuart Evans 2 years, 6 months ago
check again...we're not free. they just say we are.
Ron Holzwarth 2 years, 6 months ago
It can be a rather dangerous practice. A clip:
Bullets fired into the air usually fall back at speeds much lower than those at which they leave the barrel of a firearm. Nevertheless, people are injured, sometimes fatally, when bullets discharged into the air fall back down. The mortality rate among those struck by falling bullets is about 32%, compared with about 2% to 6% normally associated with gunshot wounds. The higher mortality is related to the higher incidence of head wounds from falling bullets.
DillonBarnes 2 years, 6 months ago
No where does it say he was firing into the air. Maybe he was holding it up when he discharged it into himself, but the story doesn't say he went outside and started firing into the air.
Ron Holzwarth 2 years, 6 months ago
So you think he shot a few rounds horizontally, and then pointed his gun up and into his chin?
I have to admit that's possible.
beatrice 2 years, 6 months ago
Sounds like he wasn't in danger of hitting any vital organs.
DillonBarnes 2 years, 6 months ago
Way to steal someone's joke from the other story on this! Comon beatrice, you know better than that.
beatrice 2 years, 6 months ago
It is an easy joke, so I am not surprised someone else used it elsewhere. I didn't intentionally steal another's joke -- it was an accident. So shoot me.
Ron Holzwarth 2 years, 6 months ago
I know a man that shot himself right through his chest. His father found him about five hours later, and he lived. I'm sure it was a very long five hours.
He missed his heart and I guess everything else you really need to survive, but it was a close call.
The medical explanation was that the bullet he used was one used for target practice, and not one that would mushroom upon collision.
But you're right, that was a statistical miracle, and the case of my friend was also.
InspectorJo 2 years, 6 months ago
I don't think he shot his gun in his backyard, but rather he shot it into his chin, and it was not free for him, it has cost him dearly.
blindrabbit 2 years, 6 months ago
He was practicing for the annual Tongie squirrel hunt, which is actually held within the city limits. Don't understand the need for a 45 cal. though; maybe he was gunning for one of those big reds instead of the little gray ones. A few beers helps with the aim, especially at night.
blindrabbit 2 years, 6 months ago
This sounds like a Kentucky or Tennessee story!
Ralph Reed 2 years, 6 months ago
@blindrabbit: True ... Kentucky or Tennessee
BUT!
Don't forget Jefferson County ...
beatrice 2 years, 6 months ago
Glad he didn't Darwin himself -- honestly -- but going out shooting in the dark when drunk is not at all advisable. I don't even think the NRA would support that one.
beatrice 2 years, 6 months ago
Shot himself?
Isn't that what half-brothers are for?
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